Apple to Appeal EU’s $13.6 Billion Tax Bill

Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) begins battle with European Union, who ordered Ireland to recoup 13 billion euros ($13.6 billion) in unpaid taxes from the iPhone maker. The U.S. tech giant said Monday it appealed the decision EU made in August, saying that it was unfairly singled out by the EU.

"It's been clear since the start of this case there was a pre-determined outcome. The Commission took unilateral action and retroactively changed the rules, disregarding decades of Irish tax law, US tax law, as well as global consensus on tax policy, that everyone has relied on," Apple said.

EU’s commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in August that Apple was paying a corporate tax rate of 0.05 percent in Ireland in 2014. “Apple is not an outlier in any sense that matters to the law. Apple is a convenient target because it generates lots of headlines. It allows the commissioner to become Dane of the year for 2016,” he said, referring to the title accorded to Vestager by Danish newspaper Berlingske last month.

The Irish government also challenged European Union for its misinterpreting Irish law. "The Commission has manifestly breached its duty to provide a clear and unequivocal statement of reasons in its decision, in relying simultaneously on grossly divergent factual scenarios, in contradicting itself as to the source of the rule that Ireland is said to have breached, and in suggesting that Ireland granted aid in relation to profits taxable in other jurisdictions," The Irish Finance ministry said in a statement.

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